BFF Updates: Julie Wenah (EDA): Julie joined the call from New Mexico as she is traveling with with First Lady Michelle Obama. Julie’s IMCP updates were as follows:

Select USA 2016: Julie posed the question, What are the IMCP “asks” to businesses at Select USA 2016? Julie wants to make sure the IMCP’s are leveraging potential partnerships and would like to hear from the communities by Wednesday, May 25, 2016 with specifics.

IMCP legislation: The IMCP legislation has progressed to the mark up phase.

IMCP October 2016 Summit, Program Committee: Julie asked for volunteers to lead the program committee.

IMCP Anniversary: The anniversary is May 28, 2016 and it will be celebrated in Connecticut.

Redesignations: Julie will send to the first 12 communities a letter/email indicating receipt and the approvals will be provided after May 28, 2016.

Intern for Julie: The intern will begin work with Julie in June 2016. The intern will revamp/update the IMCP website and will reach out to the IMCP communities to ensure the information is correct.

No other BFF was on the call today.

Charlie Bartsch (EPA): We had a very successful conference session on the PNMP project at the Oregon Brownfields conference last week. The EPA Brownfields area wide planning competition,which has special factor preference for IMCP communities, should be announced within the next couple of weeks.

Regional Innovation Strategies FFO - issued April 25th. Deadline - June 24th.EDA-HDQ-OIE-2016-2004868 FY2016 Regional Innovation Strategies Program FFO is available on grants.gov.-Sarah would like to know if an IMCP is applying for the RIS and if so - are you engaging in a regional alliance approach. Example: the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) is applying for $500,000. Puget Sound is willing to collaborate and write a letter of support. Are there second round IMCP’s applying for the RIS FFO? Response: Madison is applying; Memphis is applying via the UT Health Center (medical devices); Greater Peoria is reviewing the grant and will make a decision (interested but not sure); and Louisiana is interested related to chemical innovations; and Greater Portland is applying.

Jon Cardinal has talking points that can be shared with your individual member of Congress. Just contact Jon for more information.

Outreach requests - David - still moving along in the process. Hoping for additional endorsements on the Senate side. There is a listing on Congress.gov that will show who has signed on to the legislation.​- No updates on the legislation.

Mapping linkages with NNMI, MEP, and National Laboratories - Dileep ThatteSasha Anderson - Puget Sound has been working on the map. MEPs, NNMI, and the ICMP communities are identified and highlight-able for more information. http://www.manufacturingcommunities.org/partner-map.html​Not new information.

Select USA in D.C, (June) - June 19-21, 2016 To register, please visit this link. Read and download the agenda here. What do the IMCP communities need to do to have a significant presence in D.C. at this important event? - Will anyone attend the USA Select? Connecticut, Peoria, Madison region, and Milwaukee, SOuth-central Idaho will have a presence/State of Idaho as well.

Private funding/Finance update: Charlie/Sarah -

No new information from Kresge but there will be a webinar with updates.

Are there IMCP’s going after other funding? John with Alamo submitted a proposal for NNMI (Robotics) with a group out of Ohio. Pre-selections announcements today, May 23, 2016. Would appreciate support from other IMCP communities to establish the Robotic Institute. Greater Portland applied as well - an institute to make value added products out of seafood waste. Louisiana and Texas applied for a joint project. Milwaukee region applied for a water technology institute. Southern CA joined with UCLA on the CESMII application which is expected to be announced later this month. Southern CA is also on an Automation and Robotics team led by Carnegie Mellon University.

Please send an email to Sarah when you find out if your project was funded. It is an excellent opportunity to collaborate.

Questions/Comments from the Gallery:

Not necessarily questions, but the folks that were able to gather in D.C. last week came up with the following: YOUR INPUT IS CRITICAL TO MOVING FORWARD!!! Feel free to add your ideas, thoughts, comments…. Just click on the field you would like to edit. If you would like to add a new line -- Just click on the ‘insert row’ tab under table tools above and away you go....

This could also help Julie with the structure of the programming conference calls/webinars by helping to identify the federal agency partners that can help with implementation. Specific projects will also help the agency folks address our needs versus talk about generalities.

Champions needed! On-going business

NNMI Coordination - Dion is setting up the series of conference calls for interested parties. Dion has these now moving forward. Dileep has provided the first speaker. Should have more information for next week’s call June - Wednesday or Thursday (likely the 3rd week)

Advanced Composites Workforce - Greg (Utah)

Aerospace - Kathy Thompson (J.Dewey-San Antonio (Alamo Manufacturing Partnership) wants to be included in this group, but is unable to lead.)

Private Funding - Sarah - Charlie - Next call is May 31st.

Food - California - Karmjot Grewal -

Manufacturing Community Blog - Sarah is looking for updates that can be posted to the blog. Press releases?

Please note: we are no longer doing a round robin check in -- instead, we will focus on collaborative issues and projects. So -- we really truly need each region to take a moment or two to write a few sentences about what you are doing! (Please fill in what you can -- doesn’t have to be earth shattering!)

TechHire Community Designation: The City of Mobile, Alabama will participate in a conference call with the White House on Monday, May 23, 2016 to discuss the TechHire Community designation process.

Airbus U.S.: Another milestone came last week with the delivery of an A321 aircraft from the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility to American Airlines. It is the first of an eight planes on property for American Airlines.

Alabama First Class Pre-K: Alabama is one of only two states in the country to meet all 10 quality benchmarks for the last 10 years as established by the National Institute for Early Education Research. Alabama's quality focus is a national model for other states.

Exhibiting at the Space Tech Expo in Pasadena May 24 – 26, America’s meeting place for space technology and engineering to connect with A&D manufacturers.

Innovation Forum Series event, Technology Transfer for Small Business will showcase technology developed at 4-5 universities and one national lab. A few will offer an express license program which allows for rapid licensing.

Holding our 1st Bi-Annual AMP SoCal Conference August 4th at the California Science Center, home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Our first panel of the day will cover trends in Defense procurement and the last panel will have procurement officers from OEMs and Tier One Suppliers.

Floor360 Consortium working session on May 25th to re-tool the advanced manufacturing strategy (2016 - 2018).

Innovation Forum Series event, Technology Transfer for Small Business will showcase technology developed at 4-5 universities and one national lab. A few will offer an express license program which allows for rapid licensing.

Holding our 1st Bi-Annual AMP SoCal Conference August 4th at the California Science Center, home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Our first panel of the day will cover trends in Defense procurement and the last panel will have procurement officers from OEMs and Tier One Suppliers.

What’s up? On Friday, the region received $1.2 million in Brownfields grants: $400,000 in Assessment funds to GPCOG and $800,000 in RLF funds to the City of Portland. Both are IMCP-aligned. Sites for food production will receive priority consideration. Greater Portland will be applying for the i6 Challenge Grant (RIS) to launch New England Ocean Cluster House, the nation’s first ocean-based commercialization center.

The Alamo Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) has teamed with EWI-Columbus OH in the submission of a Pre-Application proposal in response to the NNMI FFO (2016-NIST-NNMI-01) to establish a robotics Institute for Manufacturing Innovation (IMI). Per the FFO, pre-applicant announcements are expected on Monday, May 23rd.

MadREP held their Annual Madison Region Economic Development and Diversity Summit on May 9th. Over 500 attended. Key Plenary speakers were Dr. Manuel Pastor, USC Professor and Author on Diversity, Dr. Yasuyuki Motoyama, of the Kauffman Foundation who spoke about innovation and entrepreneurship, and Assistant Secretary Jay Williams of EDA who highlighted federal initiatives, vision and ACE and IMCP partnerships with MadREP. Additional reporting of the event is available in this Wisconsin Business article. and this one from Madison 365.

MadREP also featured our Centers of Excellence in both Agriculture Food and Beverage Manufacturing (MCP designated sector) and Information Technology during two break-out sessions called Bytes and Bites. The agenda can be found here.

​MadREP also hosted Administrator Sam Rikkers, USDA National Director of Rural Development and his staff on May 13th. He was the keynote speaker for the 85 member IMCP consortium meeting in the afternoon. During his day long visit, we toured Cress Bakery in Blue Mounds (REAP solar grant recipient), Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen in Mineral Point (co-packing facility that will be expanding), and the UW Center for Dairy Research in Madison (targeted national center of excellence for dairy and beverage manufacturing),We also reviewed program initiatives for the Madison Public Market project with City staff and leadership and the Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship program with their business advisors.

New chemical industry group convenes in Gonzales to discuss federal funding and workforce needs. See the article here:Sam BarnesMay 10, 2016 | Business Report

A newly designated consortium of local, state and federal leaders met in Gonzales in April to discuss federal funding needs for Louisiana’s chemical industry, particularly as they relate to skilled labor training.

The Louisiana Chemical Manufacturing Initiative is one of 24 designated manufacturing consortiums participating in the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership. Through the IMCP program, the EDA coordinates federal aid to support development plans and synchronizes grant programs across multiple departments and agencies.

Jonathan Shi, an LSU professor and director of LCMI, says the local group represents Louisiana’s chemical corridor from New Orleans to Lake Charles and is comprised of experts in sustainability, workforce development and small business development. A primary focus of the local consortium is to attract federal dollars for workforce training.

“We plan to help our partners compete for federal funding opportunities,” Shi says. “We’re currently paying our own way when it comes to training, but we hope, through our efforts, to be able to bring in federal dollars.” Additionally, the group hopes to strategically align new investments in higher education with workforce needs and emerging growth sectors in the state economy. The Louisiana Department of Education is working with high schools to implement programs to provide credit for training relevant-to-high-need areas in chemical manufacturing.

To highlight the need for training, Turner Industries employee Robert Dragg, currently working at Shell Chemical in Geismar, spoke to the group about his own personal success story, made possible by his participation in the craft training program at Associated Builders and Contractors – Bayou Chapter in New Orleans.

“I started welding when I was in the 11th grade, which is when I was introduced to ABC – Bayou Chapter,” Dragg said. “At the end of my 12th grade year, I was allowed to participate in a program sponsored by Shell and Turner to continue to go to the ABC school over the summer, for free.”

Since entering the workforce in September 2014, Dragg’s hourly pay rate has doubled due to continued workforce training. He eventually graduated as Outstanding Student of the Year from ABC.

Attending the meeting as guests were Matt Erskine, deputy assistant secretary of commerce and COO of EDA, and Christopher Masingill, Delta Regional Authority chairman. “It’s exciting to see this level of collaboration around the IMCP community here,” Erskine said. “When we began this effort in 2012 in order to support manufacturing across the country, I’m not sure we expected the level of response that we got. The other inspiring thing is how you all have created this community among yourselves; how you’ve already created this close-knit group.”​Other goals of the local IMCP group include building stronger supplier networks, fostering research and innovation, infrastructure and site development, trade and investment, and operational improvement and capital access. The IMCP also encourages communities to develop comprehensive economic development strategies that will strengthen their competitive edge for attracting global manufacturer and supply chain investments.

Charlie Bartsch (EPA): No updates at this time. Working with Julie on pulling together the resource documents from the federal partners. Leadership meeting coming up in the next few weeks.

Dileep Thatte (NIST/MEP): Nothing to add at this time.

Other BFF’s on the call? Brian Parker - i6 Challenge and Seed Funding open currently

Agenda:

Programming Conference call - Julie Wenah –

Regional Innovation Strategies FFO - issued April 25th. EDA-HDQ-OIE-2016-2004868 FY2016 Regional Innovation Strategies Program FFO is available on grants.govEDA held a post-launch webinar on May 5, 2016, at 2:00pm EDT. Recording of the webinar is available on EDA’s website.

Jon Cardinal has talking points that can be shared with your individual member of Congress. Just contact Jon for more information.

4. Mapping linkages with NNMI, MEP, and National Laboratories - Dileep Thatte Sasha Anderson - Puget Sound has been working on the map. MEPs, NNMI, and the ICMP communities are identified and highlight-able for more information. http://www.manufacturingcommunities.org/partner-map.html John Dewey (Alamo) and Leigh Hopkins (NWGA) submitted changes to the map to Sarah and Julie - wondering about updates. David (SE MIchigan) also sent DOD/OEA recipients also.

5. Select USA in D.C, (June) - June 19-21, 2016 To register, please visit this link. Read and download the agendahere. What do the IMCP communities need to do to have a significant presence in D.C. at this important event? Petra - cluster to cluster activity was valuable. Workshop on presentation - would like to learn more about what the Europeans are doing around cluster development. Opportunity to more one-on-one learning opportunities with EU clusters?

David - thinking about alternative financing work and the consortium map. Potential to create a multi-state IMCP workforce development with the NNMI Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) for coordinated workforce investment that can leverage all of the opportunities that we have going on - including the foundation resources. Interested in partnership conversations for IMCP communities in the LIFT region - Memphis/Knoxville/Dayton/Detroit/. Metals, welding powder coating, auto and aerospace.

Not necessarily questions, but the folks that were able to gather in D.C. last week came up with the following: YOUR INPUT IS CRITICAL TO MOVING FORWARD!!! Feel free to add your ideas, thoughts, comments…. Just click on the field you would like to edit. If you would like to add a new line -- Just click on the ‘insert row’ tab under table tools above and away you go....

This could also help Julie with the structure of the programming conference calls/webinars by helping to identify the federal agency partners that can help with implementation. Specific projects will also help the agency folks address our needs versus talk about generalities. Champions needed! On-going business

NNMI Coordination - Dion is setting up the series of conference calls for interested parties. Dion has these now moving forward. Dileep has provided the first speaker. Should have more information for next week’s call

Advanced Composites Workforce - Greg (Utah)

Aerospace - Kathy Thompson (J.Dewey-San Antonio (Alamo Manufacturing Partnership) wants to be included in this group, but is unable to lead.) Conversations with Sarah and other IMCP aerospace communities. Working to put together a process/regular schedule to work together. Planning for the IMCP summit in October. Southwest Alabama recently submitted an NSF proposal to create a pathway for girls (also included Louisiana, NW Georgia, and Memphis/Nashville) - Whoo Hoo!!! Proposal was approved. Advanced manufacturing proposal -$300,000 - hoping to be invited to receive another $12 million for advance STEM careers for girls. Intention is to expand across the 24 IMCP communities.

Manufacturing Community Blog - Sarah is looking for updates that can be posted to the blog. Press releases?

Please note: we are no longer doing a round robin check in -- instead, we will focus on collaborative issues and projects. So -- we really truly need each region to take a moment or two to write a few sentences about what you are doing! (Please fill in what you can -- doesn’t have to be earth shattering!)

UTC Aerospace Systems announced plans on May 3, 2016 to expand its Baldwin County aerostructures plant with a new $30 million facility that will supply jet engine systems to the Airbus A320 Family assembly line in Mobile, creating 260 jobs.

Mobile, Alabama was ranked 19th out 150 Best Cities for Hispanic Entrepreneurs by WalletHub, a personal finance website. Editors used 19 key metrics to determine the rankings, ranging from business start-ups to income growth.

May 2, 2016 - Check-in For all you shipbuilders out there -- In 1969, the QE2 set out on its maiden voyageBFF Updates:

Julie Wenah (EDA): 1) Hannover-Messe - map was a big hit - people were interested in manufacturing centers in US - thanks to Madison for creating the overview of where the IMCP communities were located and what are the ICMP communities’ industry clusters; Julie will post a video clip. 11 IMCP communities represented at Hannover-Messe. 2) WH Deputies meeting led by Jay Williams - travel that will be happening this month and through the rest of the year. Agencies will be reaching out to schedule visits this month and the coming months. Please update the schedule below to assist Julie and the Leadership on activities and potential dates for the Leadership to travel to the communities. 3) Redesignation applications are due May 11 - 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Changes to the map - check county lines and specific cluster. Send changes to Michael Gay : michael@madisonregion.org by close of business this Friday May 6th.

Agenda:

Programming Conference call - Julie Wenah -

Regional Innovation Strategies FFO - issued April 25th. EDA-HDQ-OIE-2016-2004868 FY2016 Regional Innovation Strategies Program FFO is available on grants.gov EDA will host a post-launch webinar on May 5, 2016, at 2:00pm EDT. During this webinar, EDA staff will present a detailed overview of the 2016 RIS FFO and will take questions from attendees.

Jon has talking points that can be shared with your individual member of Congress.

David Palmer can answer questions. House Bill 4505.

Mapping linkages with NNMI, MEP, and National Laboratories - Dileep Thatte Sasha Anderson - Puget Sound has been working on the map. MEPs, NNMI, and the ICMP communities are identified and highlight-able for more information. http://www.manufacturingcommunities.org/partner-map.html

Select USA in D.C, (June) - June 19-21, 2016 To register, please visit this link. Read and download the agenda here. What do the IMCP communities need to do to have a significant presence in D.C. at this important event? Julie: EDA is likely to have a booth - will probably do something similar to Hannover-Messe - potential for structured sessions specifically for IMCP communities. ITA is creating a list of companies that will be at Select USA looking at potential for investment in the US. Sectors represented.

Private funding/Finance update: Charlie/Sarah - update 2015 IMCP summit group was tasked with identifying the connections that can be made between ICMP and private funders. Toby Rittner - Kresge Foundation RFP. Composite Recycling Center applied last Friday. Andy Buffmire from Utah (composites) provided support - so did Carmen, Dion, Debra, and Kathy. Coordination across the nation was amazing for the application. Made clear that the IMCP communities could provide a pipeline for Kresge and other private funding. California (Dion) and Ag-Plus (Karmjot) also submitted applications. Charlie: Alerting Kresge and other foundations that the IMCP communities represent multi-jurisdictional planning targeting job creation, manufacturing. Cohesive/collaborative nature of the IMCP communities. Tapping into the affinity groups nature of foundations will help to drive additional investment. Toby is looking to develop technical assistance training to help the IMCP communities access foundation funding. Looking at getting the foundations to sponsor this training.

Questions/Comments from the Gallery:

How are other communities handling the reporting outcomes on high school students involved in pipeline training opportunities\programs? One issue we are running into in Idaho is the secondary schools will not report SSN so we can us DOL tools to track what happens following completion of training. Have other communities faced this issue and how did they resolve it? (Brent - Idaho DOL) Dion - previous project - didn’t find a workaround. Although a University research project was able to figure out a way, however it was limited. Debra in Kansas - also participant data was not available for those under 18; even over 18, still was difficult. Ask parents directly if the participants want to be involved in a longitudinal study. Carmen - also asked parents to participate in a pilot project - prior to the project start-up. Can USDOL be engaged in finding a way to help with the tracking? Use wage reporting systems that the WIB and state DOL’s have?

Not necessarily questions, but the folks that were able to gather in D.C. last week came up with the following: YOUR INPUT IS CRITICAL TO MOVING FORWARD!!! Feel free to add your ideas, thoughts, comments…. Just click on the field you would like to edit. If you would like to add a new line -- Just click on the ‘insert row’ tab under table tools above and away you go....

This could also help Julie with the structure of the programming conference calls/webinars by helping to identify the federal agency partners that can help with implementation. Specific projects will also help the agency folks address our needs versus talk about generalities.

Champions needed! On-going business

NNMI Coordination - Dion - Heidi - Dion is setting up the series of conference calls for interested parties.

Advanced Composites Workforce - Greg (Utah)

Aerospace - Kathy Thompson (J.Dewey-San Antonio (Alamo Manufacturing Partnership) wants to be included in this group, but is unable to lead.)

Manufacturing Community Blog - Sarah is looking for updates that can be posted to the blog. Press releases?

Please note: we are no longer doing a round robin check in -- instead, we will focus on collaborative issues and projects. So -- we really truly need each region to take a moment or two to write a few sentences about what you are doing! (Please fill in what you can -- doesn’t have to be earth shattering!)

TechHire Community Designation: The Southwest Alabama IMCP in collaboration with the City of Mobile, Alabama submitted on April 27, 2016 an application to the White House to be considered as one of the next TechHire communities.

Provided IMCP letters to: 1) The City of Mobile for the Bring Back Broad project - 2016 TIGER Grant application; 2) The Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF) to develop the Southwest Alabama Educational Opportunity Center (SAEOC)​ funded by the U.S. Department of Education; and 3) The Alabama Technology Network (ATN) of the Alabama Community College System (ACCS), the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) center for the state of Alabama.

Provided a letter to the Washington Aerospace Manufacturing Community led by the Puget Sound Regional Council to endorse the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) for the Kresge Foundation RFP submission.

World Trade Conference on May 9-11, 2016. Presented by the Gulf Coast Trade Alliance, and sponsored by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce.

Awarded grants to three community colleges in partnership with a workforce development board for the AMP SoCal Managed Career Pipeline Pilot Program. These pilots will develop intensive training programs to give unemployed, underemployed, youth and veterans an opportunity to gain an entry-level job in manufacturing. For more information see press release: https://ced.usc.edu/grants-awarded-in-initiative-to-fill-local-manufacturing-skills-gap/

Space Tech Expo in Pasadena May 24 – 26

Will have a booth at the Space Tech Expo & Conference, America’s meeting place for space technology and engineering.

Planning for next Innovation Forum Series event in June

Planning first Bi-Annual AMP SoCal Conference August 4th at the California Science Center, home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Wrote letters of support for the Imperial County Transportation Commission two TIGER applications.

Wrote a letter of support for the Composite Recycling Technology Center application to the Kresge Foundation on behalf of our friends at the Washington Aerospace Manufacturing Community led by the Puget Sound Regional Council

The Milwaukee 7 Regional Economic Development Partnership has released the Global MKE Trade and Investment Plan – a unique, tailored global engagement strategy for the region. The plan was developed through the region’s participation in the Global Cities Initiative – a joint project of Brookings and JPMorgan Chase – that helps leaders in U.S. metropolitan areas reorient their economies toward greater engagement in world markets.

The plan lays out targeted strategies to maximize international business development through exports and foreign direct investment (FDI). Global trade and investment are critical to the long-term economic viability of the region. Exports, mainly in manufacturing, account for $15 billion of the region’s gross domestic product and are the fastest growing sector of regional GDP over the past 10 years. Foreign-owned firms employ 30,000 workers in the Milwaukee metro area, with more than 40% of those in the manufacturing industry.

Each of our 4 executive leads for the CV AgPlus will be submitting their USDA RDBG grant applications today for funding to support workshops throughout our region on our IMCP designation and how to leverage support and funds.

Last week we presented at CALED on the Ag Value chain and Central Valley AgPlus. Our presentation was well received by the audience.